ʿUqbah said: “Then he mentioned it in similar wording,” meaning similar to the wording of Zuhayr’s report: “Simmāk ibn Ḥarb narrated to us,” with the wording: “Whoever supports his people in something other than the truth is like a camel that falls into a well and is pulled out by its tail.” He did not relate the hadith in its entirety. Abū ʿĀmir was ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAmr al-ʿAqdī, Aḥmad’s previously mentioned shaykh.

Shuʿbah also narrated it from Simmāk ibn Ḥarb through the same chain, but without the words, “And the likeness of the one who …” Aḥmad (1/436) and al-Tirmidhī (no. 2258) recorded it. Al-Tirmidhī said: “A good and authentic hadith.”

I say: It is as he said, for its chain of transmission is authentic and its narrators are trustworthy. Whoever confines himself to grading it merely good has fallen short! Al-Masʿūdī also narrated it from Simmāk through the same chain. Aḥmad recorded it (1/389 and 436). Shurayk likewise narrated it from Simmāk through the same chain, restricting it to the words: “Whoever deliberately lies about me, let him take his seat in the Fire.” Ibn Mājah recorded it (no. 30).

1384 — “The best of the believers are those with the finest character; and the most discerning of them are those who remember death most often and are best prepared for it. Those are the truly discerning.”

Al-Bayhaqī recorded it in al-Zuhd al-Kabīr (52/2), from ʿUbayd Allah ibn Saʿīd ibn Kathīr ibn ʿUbayr: My father related to me; Mālik ibn Anas related to me from Suhayl ibn Mālik, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar, that a man said to the Prophet: “Which believers are best?” He replied: “Those with the finest character.” He asked: “Which believers are most discerning?” He replied: “Those who most often …” Then he mentioned it.

I say: This chain of transmission is weak. Its narrators are trustworthy, except for this ʿUbayd Allah ibn Saʿīd,